"Birds of a feather flock together...."

When I was small, Mom had many  expressions that would come out every once in a while.  If I was talking about some crazy antics that some friends pulled she would say, "You are known by the friends you keep".  If some kid did something really dumb, Mom would laugh and say "The apple doesn't fall from the tree."  But one of her best expressions that I heard often was "Birds of a feather flock together".  Over the years this old adage has proven true many times.  Don't we seek for companions those people that share our own interests, have the same world view and look at life somewhat the same?  Although some might say I am quite eclectic, if one was to put me in a box, I imagine one could say I was a liberal, a seeker of truth, a gardener, a photographer, a bird watcher, a nurturer, and a historical buff.  Some might say I am fiercely independent, a risk taker, strong willed, idealistic, and strongly imaginative. 

I was thinking about this the other day after Fran and I left the psyche ward at the Quincy Hospital where our mother is being re-evaluated and her meds adjusted.  We were on our way to Dorchester so I could take pictures of Victorian houses in our Nana's old neighborhood.  I thought I might do several photo essays on the neighborhoods...Melville Avenue, Wellesley Park and Ashmont Hill...all areas that have fine architecture from the previous century.   Riding from Quincy to Dorchester, we took Adams Street through Milton, the old way we used to take long ago before there was the Southeast Expressway.  This way is most scenic and on top of Milton Hill are many old mansions.  When we were young, we were really impressed with these houses and used to ask Dad who occupied them.  His reply:  "Rich people, girls...but you wouldn't want to live here.  All these people eat are baked beans....baked beans for every meal...morning, noon and night."  We knew then that we would NEVER want to live there.

As we were driving, I saw this big grassy hill overlooking Boston.  "Fran, what is that field.  We have passed that field forever and I never knew why it has remained vacant."





"It's Governor Hutchinson's Field...Hutchinson was the Royal Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony.  Right now it's in the hands of The Trustees of Reservations, a non-profit conservation organization.  We used to bring the boys here to play."




With that I pulled over to the side of the road and we got out.  Wandering around the field, we headed over to a stand of beech trees.  I was curious about the carvings on the trees and I started taking pictures.











"Hey Bob, look at this beautiful feather I found.  It's iridescent on the tip.  Here's two more."

"I wonder what kind of bird has feathers like this?  Here lets put them together so I can get a shot.  Will make a neat still life...besides I can bring them to Roy, my friend on Gather.  I'm sure he'll be able to identify the bird from looking at these feathers.  Bhawana is running a competition on bird images this week on Gather but I don't suppose she would be looking for just images of feathers."



As I was taking a few pictures, Fran wandered off and found more feathers and I joined her in the quest.  As I was making my way through the tall grass, a huge bird alighted from the ground.

"Oh my God, it's a pheasant, Fran.  I almost ran over him."





With a larger collection, I started creating more still life pictures.  Fran and I placed them in various positions.  "Imagine Fran, what people would say if they saw two ladies in their early sixties collecting feathers in a field.  They would think we were really looney!"















As I clicked away, Fran came up with a new proposition.  "Bob, let me collect all the feathers, stand on my tiptoes and release them and you can shoot images as they float down.  Won't that make a great picture?" That's what I like about Fran...she's really the artistic one and she comes up with some really neat ideas.  As she released the feathers, I clicked away.  We had to do this several times since in the beginning I was clicking too late and the feathers had already fallen swiftly to the ground.









The patterns on the various feathers are just beautiful.





Pleased with our still lifes, we headed back to the car when I noticed a large estate across the way.  "Is that a museum, Fran?"

"Yes, it's the Forbes House Museum...Forbes was big in the China trade. I don't think it's open but we can walk around the grounds."  Feathers forgotten, we headed across the street.




The Forbes House is a beautiful example of Greek Revival architecture in America....but we will save this for another photo essay down the line.  Thanks for coming along on our wanderings today.  I hope you enjoyed seeing how our minds work.